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WorldLatest world news from The Sun DailyBritain to reopen places of worship on June 15https://www.thesundaily.my/world/britain-to-reopen-places-of-worship-on-june-15-CN2539334
495e1617-fe8e-4dde-8d7d-ed78ff24e0ccSun, 07 Jun 2020 09:41:48 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x277/0c26/400d225/none/11808/VYGL/boris_1195392_20200607174133.jpg"><p><b>LONDON</b>: The UK government said Sunday it will reopen places of worship “for private individual prayer” on June 15 as it continues to progressively ease coronavirus restrictions.</p><p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s <i>(pix)</i> office said services and worship groups will still be banned for the time being due to concern that the virus spreads more quickly in enclosed spaces.</p><p>“People of all faiths have shown enormous patience and forbearance, unable to mark Easter, Passover, Ramadan or Vaisakhi with friends and family in the traditional way,“ Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said in a statement.</p><p>“We are now able to move forwards with a limited but important return to houses of worship.”</p><p>Britain’s official COVID-19 death toll of 40,465 is second only to that of the United States.</p><p>But cases across Europe have fallen off sharply and Britain is now cautiously proceeding with partial school reopenings and the resumption of basic business activity that ended when the country shut down on March 23.</p><p>Johnson’s government also intends to reopen all stores on June 15. Restaurants and pubs will be allowed to seat a limited number of customers in a week.</p><p>But Johnson has had to weather intense criticism for his handling of the health crisis.</p><p>Critics say Britain had ample time to take the appropriate precautions -- such as shutting down retail and closing schools -- after seeing the disease spread from China to Italy and other parts of Europe at the start of the year.</p><p>The government is now coming under attack for starting to lift the restriction too quickly.</p><p>The average reinfection rate in some northwestern and southwestern parts of Britain is still perilously close to the 1.0 figure above which the virus begins to spread.</p><p>Health Secretary Matt Hancock argued that the government was proceeding with abundant caution because it was wary of the dire economic effects of a second lockdown.</p><p>“The worst thing for the economy would be a second spike,“ he told Sky News.</p><p>Hancock also dismissed reports of a raging policy clash between pro-business government ministers and more health conscious scientific advisers.</p><p>“I care deeply about getting the economy going and the best way to get the economy going is to ensure that we get the number of new infections right down,“ he said. — <i>AFP</i></p>Head of S. Korea ‘comfort women’ shelter found dead amid probehttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/head-of-s-korea-comfort-women-shelter-found-dead-amid-probe-HM2538854
73c3c454-5e99-4eab-9d36-83fbba8e55e2Sun, 07 Jun 2020 09:47:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x284/0c0/400d225/none/11808/JASM/comfort-women_1195287_20200607164740.jpg"><p><b>SEOUL</b>: A woman running a shelter for South Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery has been found dead in her home, police said Sunday, amid a corruption probe involving the facility.</p><p>Prosecutors are investigating claims that the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance activist group misused funds meant for the so-called “comfort women” -- a euphemism for the country’s World War II sex slaves.</p><p>The 60-year-old woman was believed to have taken her own life, police said.</p><p>“She came home by herself and the door was locked,“ police told AFP without giving the woman’s name.</p><p>Officers said they did not believe anyone else was involved in her death.</p><p>The reason for her death was not known, but the activist group said she had been struggling with the ongoing investigation and a raid of the shelter by prosecutors last month.</p><p>“She said she felt as if her entire life was being denied,“ it said in a statement.</p><p>The plight of comfort women has been a thorny issue between Seoul and Tokyo for decades and the activist group had campaigned for compensation from Japan.</p><p>Last month Lee Yong-soo, one prominent victim, accused the group and its former leader of exploiting comfort women to collect government funds and public donations.</p><p>Lee said little money had been spent on their cause, prompting an investigation by prosecutors.</p><p>The probe includes allegations that the former leader, Yoon Mee-hyang, embezzled funds to buy apartments and to pay for her daughter’s tuition in the United States.</p><p>Yoon -- who left the group after winning a parliamentary seat in April -- has denied all the allegations but apologised for “banking errors”. — <i>AFP</i></p>A statue of a girl that represents the sexual victims by the Japanese military is seen in front of Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Dec 28, 2015. — AFPFox News apologizes for chart of stock gains after black killingshttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/fox-news-apologizes-for-chart-of-stock-gains-after-black-killings-GM2538833
07f1eae5-05d3-45c6-a087-79bc0837dc44Sun, 07 Jun 2020 08:46:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c21/400d225/none/11808/YEOR/fox-news_1195282_20200607154654.jpg"><p><b>WASHINGTON</b>: <i>Fox News</i> has apologised for airing a graphic showing how stock markets had responded after high-profile acts of violence against black men, including the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr and the recent killing of George Floyd.</p><p>The chart appeared Friday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” and showed how markets had risen after the 1968 killing of the civil rights leader, the acquittal of police involved in the 1991 beating of Rodney King, and the deaths of teenager Michael Brown in 2014 and Floyd.</p><p>“The infographic used on <i>FOX News Channel’s Special Report </i>to illustrate market reactions to historic periods of civil unrest should have never aired on television without full context,“ the cable channel said in a statement Saturday retweeted by Baier without comment.</p><p>“We apologize for the insensitivity of the image &amp; take this issue seriously.”</p><p>The chart stirred outrage at a time when thousands of people nationwide have taken part in mass protests against racism and police brutality following the death of Floyd at the hands of a white officer.</p><p>“This graphic makes it clear that @FoxNews does not care about black lives,“ Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush said on Twitter.</p><p>“This is how they mourn the loss of black men at #FoxNews -- by how much the stock market goes up. What. The. Hell!,“ former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele tweeted.</p><p>Other media have pointed out that financial markets tend to rebound after periods of social unrest, including <i>Fortune </i>magazine. — <i>Bernama</i></p>India, China seek to ‘peacefully resolve’ border face-offhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/india-china-seek-to-peacefully-resolve-border-face-off-EM2538732
6faf8ab4-0d73-47da-abec-d6b109b66297Sun, 07 Jun 2020 07:30:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x225/0c0/400d225/none/11808/YJEF/indian-vs-china_1195259_20200607151853.jpg"><p><b>NEW DELHI</b>: India and China have agreed to “peacefully resolve” a latest border flare-up that has heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, New Delhi said Sunday, after a high-level meeting between army commanders.</p><p>Tensions have flared in recent weeks between the two regional powers over their 3,500-kilometre (2,200-mile) frontier, which has never been properly demarcated.</p><p>Thousands of troops from both countries are involved in the face-off concentrated in India’s Ladakh region, just opposite Tibet.</p><p>“Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements,“ the foreign ministry said in a statement.</p><p>The ministry added that the commanders agreed an “early resolution” was “essential” for bilateral relations between the world’s two most-populous nations.</p><p>“Accordingly, the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas,“ the statement said.</p><p>There have been numerous face-offs and brawls between Chinese and Indian soldiers at the frontier, but they have become more frequent in recent years.</p><p>On May 9, several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a high-altitude cross-border clash involving fists and stone-throwing in Sikkim state.</p><p>Indian officials said that within days, Chinese troops encroached over the demarcation line in the Ladakh region, further to the west.</p><p>India moved extra troops to positions opposite.</p><p>The talks, which took place in the Chushul-Moldo region between the two commanders, is believed to be the highest-level meeting since the Sikkim exchange.</p><p>India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have sought to ease the tensions at summits over the past two years when they agreed to boost border communications between their militaries. — <i>AFP</i></p>‘Time for a change’: Anti-racism protesters march across UShttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/time-for-a-change-anti-racism-protesters-march-across-us-CM2538325
86cd240e-c322-463a-bde0-c3641774f0c5Sun, 07 Jun 2020 06:31:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c21/400d225/none/11808/CGYY/s3-reutersmedia_1195161_20200607123536.jpg"><p><b>WASHINGTON</b>: Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters rallied for racial justice Saturday in cities across the United States following the death of George Floyd, as the movement triggered by his killing at police hands entered a second weekend.</p><p>Protests took place from New York to Los Angeles but Washington was at the epicenter, as thousands of people black, white and brown flooded downtown streets surrounding the White House, which was barricaded with black metal grates.</p><p>“This fight has been happening for many, many decades, hundreds of years, and at this point it’s time for a change,“ said Washington native Christine Montgomery.</p><p>“I’m here so my son is not the next hashtag that is circulating worldwide,“ she added, indicating her 10-year-old child standing next to her.</p><p>On a sunny but oppressively hot day, many people wore masks because of the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>Volunteers gave out water, hand sanitizer and other supplies as the area took on a block party vibe, with music, mural painting, food trucks, and vendors selling Black Lives Matter T-shirts.</p><p>Helicopters circled overhead as some protesters danced -- but others yelled “This ain’t no party!”</p><p>Military personnel as well as police watched over the gathering. But there appeared to be fewer than on previous days, and some gave the protesters small smiles and waves as they marched by.</p><p>On the National Mall, fencing and uniformed guards blocked protesters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr famously delivered his “I have a dream” speech in 1963.</p><p>“Martin Luther King stood here, and after so many years we are back here with a new message of hope,“ said Deniece Laurent-Mantey, 31.</p><p>The protests were ignited by videos of a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes as he pleaded for his life -- the latest unarmed black person to die in the hands of white law enforcement officers.</p><p>The rage since Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25 has exploded into the most serious civil unrest in America since King was assassinated in 1968.</p><p>Peaceful protests swelled Saturday in other US cities: tens of thousands rallied across New York City and Philadelphia; Chicago shut down the iconic Lake Shore Drive to facilitate protests; and demonstrators marched in Los Angeles.</p><p></p><p><i><b>‘I can’t go in’</b></i></p><p></p><p>But the demonstrations in Washington were the biggest since protests began in Minneapolis before spreading across the country and then abroad.</p><p>“Today, the pain is so raw it can be hard to keep faith,“ tweeted Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden.</p><p>He added: “But ours is a union worth fighting for, and we are all called to the cause.”</p><p>A remembrance for Floyd was held Saturday in Raeford, North Carolina, the state where he was born, following a memorial service in Minneapolis on Thursday.</p><p>Hundreds waited to view his coffin, some holding umbrellas against the hot sun. Some sobbed and many held cell phones high as a hearse arrived with the casket.</p><p>Floyd’s sisters LaTonya and Zsa-Zsa Floyd told reporters they would not go inside.</p><p>“I can’t go in, see him laying in a coffin, it would drive me crazy forever,“ said LaTonya through tears.</p><p>She expressed her pain at watching the footage of her brother’s agonizing death.</p><p>“It’s very hard. Every time I look up I see him on the ground, face up, neck down, hollering please help me,“ she said, adding she wished the video could be taken down.</p><p>“I’ll never hear his voice, I’ll never hear his laughter, I’ll never tell him again that I love him and likewise he’d tell me the same,“ said Zsa-Zsa.</p><p>But, she said, she felt like God “chose him for a reason.”</p><p>“He called him up, so his death was not in vain.”</p><p><i><b></b></i></p><p><i><b>‘It’s about time’</b></i></p><p></p><p>Around the world, protesters echoed the rage of American demonstrators.</p><p>“It is time to burn down institutional racism,“ one speaker shouted through a megaphone at a hooting crowd of thousands outside the parliament building in London.</p><p>Tens of thousands rallied in Australia and France, while in Tunis, hundreds chanted: “We want justice! We want to breathe!”</p><p>Back in Washington, many black protesters hailed the multiracial, multi-ethnic nature of the demonstrations, calling the change “invigorating.”</p><p>Jackie Maddox, 59, who remembered her own parents marching in Washington for their rights decades ago, said she felt “relieved” that black people were no longer alone.</p><p>“It’s about time that they are tired too,“ she said of other protesters though, she added, she hoped it would last.</p><p>White protester Megan Nadolski came to the rally with her husband and two young daughters.</p><p>When black protesters called out the first part of a chant, she said, “I always want to be a white person standing right next to them to answer, just make sure they know that they’re safe, that their children can grow up safe and healthy and have the same opportunities my children do.”</p><p>The days of demonstrations in the US which have included outbreaks of looting and violence have seen new police abuses, some captured on camera.</p><p>In Buffalo, New York, two policemen were charged with felony assault Saturday after they were filmed shoving a 75-year-old protester who fell, hit his head and began bleeding.</p><p>In Indianapolis, police launched an investigation after video showed officers hitting a woman with batons and firing pepper balls at her last week.</p><p>But there were some changes to policing as well.</p><p>In Seattle, authorities announced a temporary ban on tear gas. In Denver, a federal judge forbade the use of chemical agents and projectiles like rubber bullets against peaceful protesters. And in Dallas, police marched in solidarity with protesters.</p><p>The unrest has handed US President Donald Trump the target of many a biting protest sign and chant one of the greatest challenges of his tumultuous presidency.</p><p>While condemning Floyd’s death, he has adopted a tough stance toward protesters, calling them “thugs” or “terrorists” and threatening a military crackdown.</p><p>US civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against Trump after security forces forcefully cleared peaceful demonstrators in Washington before the president walked to a nearby church for a photo op earlier this week. -<i>AFP</i></p>Protesters hold placards as they rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., June 2, 2020. -ReutersFed to weigh unemployment, reopening at key meetinghttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/fed-to-weigh-unemployment-reopening-at-key-meeting-EM2538305
bf22fff3-80c0-46e0-94ad-004f0b8671daSun, 07 Jun 2020 05:30:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x266/0c20/400d225/none/11808/XEAA/s1-reutersmedia_1195156_20200607122845.jpg"><p><b>WASHINGTON</b>: The Federal Reserve will meet next week for the first time since US states began easing shutdowns imposed to stop the coronavirus pandemic, unexpectedly boosting employment numbers after two months of massive layoffs.</p><p>The world’s largest economy added 2.5 million jobs and the unemployment rate fell in May, according to the Labor Department, even as Covid-19 remains a threat to daily life.</p><p>The Fed moved swiftly and aggressively as soon as the pandemic struck, even before businesses were shut down nationwide, as the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) slashed its key lending rate to zero in March.</p><p>The central bank also rolled out trillions of dollars in liquidity to support battered markets, and provide lending to large and medium businesses as well as state and local governments.</p><p>And Fed chair Jerome Powell has vowed to do more, if necessary.</p><p>President Donald Trump who is counting on a solid economic recovery to boost his chances of winning a second term in November, cheered the better-than-expected job numbers.</p><p>But despite the unexpected good news the economy remains in trouble and BBVA’s chief US economist Nathaniel Karp does not expect the FOMC to waver from its stance any time soon.</p><p>“While there are some early signs that the worst part of the crisis has passed, we expect that the Fed will reaffirm its commitment to doing whatever it takes while also reflecting on how the committee is viewing the current crisis,“ he said.</p><p><i><b></b></i></p><p><i><b>The road ahead</b></i></p><p></p><p>The virus itself remains a real threat, with cases continuing to climb in the United States, home to the world’s worst outbreak with more than 108,000 dead -- meaning life and commerce are not yet back to normal.</p><p>Powell has warned of the dire state of the US economy, and said economic data in the April-June quarter “will be very, very bad” -- potentially falling 20 to 30 percent.</p><p>“There will be a big decline in economic activity, big increase in unemployment,“ he said in a CBS interview last month.</p><p>While economists were expecting the Labor Department’s jobs report for May to show the unemployment rate rising to around 20 percent from its already horrific level of 14.7 percent in April, instead it declined to a still-awful 13.3 percent as the economy added jobs when states began restarting economic activity.</p><p>But Kathy Bostjancic of Oxford Economics said the central bank is unlikely to read too deeply into the positive employment data.</p><p>“While welcomed by Fed officials, the jobs report won’t change the outcome of the upcoming FOMC meeting,“ Bostjancic said.</p><p>“The policy rate will remain pegged near zero until the recovery is firmly in place, open-ended and flexible (bond purchases) will continue, and the Fed will stand ready to lend via its emergency facilities,“ she said.</p><p>The FOMC skipped its quarterly forecast in March amid the chaos of the early days of the pandemic, but is scheduled to produce the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) at this meeting.</p><p>Bostjancic said the bank will likely predict a strong GDP rebound in the second half of the year, with the caveat that it will come off the depressed activity of the second quarter.</p><p>Another factor are the nationwide protests against racism and police violence after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, in addition to the continued possibility there will be renewed outbreaks of coronavirus. -<i>AFP</i></p>Pix for representational purpose only.Surfer killed in shark attack off eastern Australiahttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/surfer-killed-in-shark-attack-off-eastern-australia-KM2538149
ecb8f69e-c2a7-4ca5-869c-31401c019461Sun, 07 Jun 2020 04:31:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x225/0c0/0d0/none/11808/XXYA/france-env-c2874254-181021-545-arch585704-mg1444918_1195101_20200607103135.jpg"><p><b>BRISBANE:</b> A surfer has died after being attacked by a three-metre shark at a popular beach off Australia’s east coast, police said Sunday.</p><p>The man was surfing at Kingscliff, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Brisbane, on Sunday morning when the shark mauled his leg.</p><p>“Police have been told several board-riders came to his assistance and fought the shark off before the injured man could be helped to shore,“ police said in a statement.</p><p>“He was rendered first aid for serious injuries to his left leg but died at the scene.”</p><p>Police said the man had not yet been formally identified but was believed to be a 60-year-old from Queensland state.</p><p>His death is the third known fatal shark attack Down Under this year.</p><p>Australia has one of the world’s highest incidences of shark attacks, but fatalities remain rare.</p><p>There were 27 attacks but no deaths off Australia last year, according to data from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. - <i>AFP</i></p>Pix for representational purposeCanada indigenous groups demand probe after police kill womanhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/canada-indigenous-groups-demand-probe-after-police-kill-woman-AM2538103
dcb32643-7880-4116-8751-4ed268268890Sun, 07 Jun 2020 03:12:06 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c21/400d225/none/11808/JSNF/download-89_1195091_20200607101447.jpg"><p><b>MONTREAL: </b>Canadian aboriginal groups on Saturday called for an independent probe into the death of an indigenous woman who was shot by a police officer called in for a wellness check.</p><p>The Congress of Aboriginal People (CPA), one of five national groups representing indigenous Canadians, called for “a public investigation into the death of Chantel Moore and the ongoing systemic bias and racism that policing services and the justice system displays towards Indigenous peoples.”</p><p>Moore, 26, was shot dead Thursday by a police officer in Edmundston, in the eastern province of New Brunswick. A relative had called police to check Moore’s health.</p><p>Edmundston police said the woman had threatened the officer with a knife. According to the family, the officer fired five times to subdue her.</p><p>Moore’s “tragic killing... during a wellness check has vividly shown all Canadians that Indigenous peoples in Canada continue to face a very different set of circumstances when interacting with the policing and justice systems in Canada”, said CPA National Chief Robert Bertrand.</p><p>While officials have opened a probe into Moore’s death, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Perry Bellegarde, said the shooting must be investigated by an impartial third party to determine why lethal force was used and whether race was a factor in the officer’s response.</p><p>“How does a call for help turn into a call for the coroner? This should never happen,“ Bellegarde said.</p><p>“We need to find out whether race played any role in the police response and whether a less extreme use of force should have been used. This young First Nations mother and daughter did not need to die.</p><p>Separately, in the western state of Alberta, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam accused Canadian Royal Mounted Police of beating him in March during a routine check of his automobile registration.</p><p>The RCMP said he was resisting arrest.</p><p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Friday about discrimination in Canada before participating in a demonstration in Ottawa against racism and police violence following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by police in the United States.</p><p>“Over the past weeks, we’ve seen a large number of Canadians suddenly awaken to the fact that the discrimination that is a lived reality for far too many of our fellow citizens is something that needs to end,“ he said. - <i>AFP</i></p>Pandemic, dire economy, unrest upend US presidential racehttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/pandemic-dire-economy-unrest-upend-us-presidential-race-LM2538085
35746b14-e7a8-45f1-8b7a-718891152203Sun, 07 Jun 2020 02:00:50 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c0/400d225/none/11808/KTJW/download-88_1195085_20200607100020.jpg"><p><b>WASHINGTON:</b> Three concurrent crises scarring the United States -- a deadly health pandemic, economic despair and widespread social unrest -- have reframed this year’s presidential contest and prompted national reflection over racial inequality in America.</p><p>Is the country on the cusp of a transformation, or will systemic inequalities exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis persist, allowing alienation and marginalization to fester?</p><p>In weeks, the unprecedented strain has become the focal point of the ferocious White House campaign between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, two politicians approaching the disasters with very different strategies.</p><p>It has been several generations since the country has experienced such a sharp and rapid confluence of major emergencies, a national low point that philosopher Cornell West has branded “America’s moment of reckoning.”</p><p>Nearly 110,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, and tens of millions are jobless due to pandemic-prompted lockdowns.</p><p>At the same time, unrest has gripped dozens of US cities where protesters demand justice over the killing by Minneapolis police of unarmed black man George Floyd.</p><p>Repeated episodes of police brutality caught on camera, even as most demonstrations have been peaceful, have further laid bare the nation’s deep social wounds.</p><p>“It’s a pretty bad moment,“ said Daniel Gillion, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “The Loud Minority.”</p><p>The crises, he told AFP, have been “horrific” for African Americans, who traditionally have poorer health care outcomes, have just a fraction of the household wealth of whites, and are more likely to face police brutality.</p><p>“I can’t think of a (modern-day) period where blacks have experienced such strife, such pain, such hardship,“ Gillion said.</p><p>Among COVID-19 victims, a disproportionate number are people of color.</p><p>While Trump on Friday touted a surprise drop in the overall jobless rate from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent in May, black unemployment actually rose, to 16.8 percent.</p><p>The injustice that erupted into ugly view when a white police officer pressed his knee onto Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes is the latest manifestation of a systemic racism that has persisted for generations.</p><p>“There’s been a knee on the neck of black America since slavery was abolished,“ 30-year-old Minneapolis protester Kayla Peterson said from behind a pandemic face mask. “We’ve never really been free.”</p><p></p><p>- Law and order -</p><p></p><p>Trump could have delivered an Oval Office address to the nation this week to smoothe tensions. Instead he has exploited discord and launched a “law and order” crusade.</p><p>Trump has walled off the White House from protesters and launched fiery accusations that do little to calm the storm.</p><p>“The problem,“ he tweeted Thursday about recent controversial tactics deployed in Washington, “is the arsonists, looters, criminals, and anarchists, wanting to destroy it (and our Country)!”</p><p>Trump’s provocative walk from the White House to a nearby church for a photo opportunity minutes after the area was forcibly cleared of protesters contained clear signals to conservative and evangelical voters in his base: security and faith remain paramount.</p><p>While Trump has trafficked in division, his November election rival has blasted him as “dangerously unfit” to lead.</p><p>Biden, 77, was largely absent for two months, hunkered down in his Delaware home as the pandemic played out and Trump used his bully pulpit to push to re-open the country.</p><p>But the veteran Democrat is eyeing an opening by embracing a message of conciliation and reform -- something that could unite the moderate and liberal factions of the Democratic Party and draw independents appalled by Trump’s strongman style.</p><p>“It is long past time we made the promise of this nation real for all of our people,“ Biden tweeted Friday.</p><p></p><p>- ‘Teflon man’? -</p><p></p><p>Experts say that despite the recent chaos, Trump does have a path to victory.</p><p>“If the president is able to talk about race in a meaningful way, and if he’s able to ride the recovery in health and in the economic crisis, he’s going to look like the Teflon man,“ Gillion said. “Nothing will stick to him.”</p><p>Trump however has seen his poll numbers erode, particularly among two groups vital to his re-election: elderly voters and evangelical Christians.</p><p>And his failure to tackle the pandemic early and his threat to unleash the military on protesters is repelling female voters.</p><p>White women “are upset with Trump’s handling of the pandemic” and his lack of leadership, said Nadia Brown, associate professor of political science and African-American studies at Purdue University.</p><p>“Women are also watching the protests and they are having empathy” with demonstrators.</p><p>The persistent inequalities, snapshots of a shattered economy and how leaders respond “will definitely be on the mind of voters in five months,“ Brown added.</p><p>It doesn’t mean Biden romps to victory, either.</p><p>“A cat has nine lives,“ Brown said, “but Trump has 12.” - <i>AFP</i></p>Singapore records 25th Covid-19 fatalityhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/singapore-records-25th-covid-19-fatality-IY2537903
fe8d0ef4-ad3a-4090-9a32-600da4f9c14eSun, 07 Jun 2020 01:20:39 GMTWorld<p><b>SINGAPORE: </b>Singapore, which recorded 344 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, reported another death due to the virus, bringing the cumulative number of fatalities to 25.</p><p></p><p>The republic’s Ministry of Health (MOH), in a statement issued here late last night, said the latest death involved a 41-year-old male Chinese national who died on June 4.</p><p></p><p>Identified as Case 11714, the victim was confirmed to have contracted Covid-19 infection on April 22.</p><p></p><p>According to the ministry, he had recovered from the infection and was discharged on May 17, but collapsed on June 4, and the coroner had certified the cause of death being massive pulmonary thromboembolism, following the SARS-CoV-2 infection.</p><p></p><p>Singapore reported its first Covid-19 death on March 21.</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p>As of Saturday, 350 more cases of Covid-19 infection were discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, thus, in all, 24,559 or about 66 per cent from Saturday’s tally of 37,527 have fully recovered.</p><p></p><p>Currently 308 confirmed cases remain in hospitals with four in critical condition in the intensive care unit.</p><p></p><p>The ministry said 12,635 cases with mild symptoms, or clinically well, but still tested positive for Covid-19, have been isolated and being cared for at community facilities. - <i>Bernama</i></p><p> </p>Sri Lanka to reopen for tourism in August, with multiple coronavirus testshttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/sri-lanka-to-reopen-for-tourism-in-august-with-multiple-coronavirus-tests-CN2528477
915eaae5-8695-475e-bfd5-d2a1d88c59a1Sat, 06 Jun 2020 13:15:50 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x259/0c17/400d225/none/11808/GDLU/download_1194781_20200606190930.jpg"><p><b>COLOMBO</b>: Sri Lanka’s virus-battered tourism industry can reopen for foreign guests from August but under strict guidelines, including multiple coronavirus tests during their stay, officials said Saturday.</p><p>Tourism was only just recovering from the effects of last year’s Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, when the virus halted international travel to the island and forced hotels to shut, leaving tens of thousands of people jobless.</p><p>Sri Lanka’s tourism ministry said travellers will be able to visit from August 1, but they must carry a Covid-19 free certificate issued not earlier than 72 hours before boarding.</p><p>Even with this document, tourists will have to take a virus test at the airport upon arrival. A further check will be done four to five days later and a third if staying for more than 10 days.</p><p>“While this may be inconvenient it is essential to safeguard everybody and provide peace of mind,“ the ministry said.</p><p>The regular visa fee of $40 has been increased to $100, visitors can only stay in hotels designated by the ministry, and are not allowed to use public transport on the island.</p><p>In addition, only those who will spend a minimum of five days in Sri Lanka will be allowed in.</p><p>The country has reported 11 deaths and 1,801 infections since its first coronavirus patient was identified on January 27.</p><p>The number of visitors to Sri Lanka dropped to 1.91 million last year, down from 2.33 million in the previous year. -<i>AFP</i></p>An empty beach seen in front of the Pearl Divers, a diving school, at Unawatuna beach in Galle, Sri Lanka July 4, 2019. -ReutersCyprus sets stage for tourism recovery as airports reopenhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/cyprus-sets-stage-for-tourism-recovery-as-airports-reopen-EN2528457
34693099-61e0-490e-8e60-913e2a108baaSat, 06 Jun 2020 12:30:17 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x262/0c18/400d225/none/11808/GFSE/s3-reutersmedia_1194776_20200606185933.jpg"><p><b>NICOSIA</b>: Cyprus opens back up for international tourism on Tuesday, with airports welcoming visitors after an almost three-month shutdown, and a bold plan to cover health care costs for visitors.</p><p>But with arrivals expected to be down by 70 percent this year due to the chaos brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s a leap of faith for the small Mediterranean holiday island.</p><p>“Nobody here is expecting to make any money this year”, Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios told <i>AFP</i>.</p><p>“We are setting the stage for the beginning of our recovery in 2021.”</p><p>The divided island’s tourism sector normally accounts for around 15 percent of GDP but has dried up in past months amid global measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.</p><p>Cyprus saw a record 3.97 million arrivals in 2019, with more than half its market made up of British and Russian visitors.</p><p>But even if the island’s airports in Larnaca and Paphos will open up to arrivals on Tuesday with the first flight due to arrive from Athens around midday (0900GMT), neither Britain or Russia are among the 19 countries allowed to land there.</p><p>The list of permitted countries, which also include Bulgaria, Germany and Malta, have been chosen based on epidemiological data and split into two categories.</p><p>Initially all travellers will need to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test undertaken within 72 hours of travel, but from June 20, only those arriving from six countries in the second category, such as Poland and Romania, will need to do so.</p><p>The government says the lists will be revised weekly and more countries can be added.</p><p>Cyprus will also cover accommodation, dining and medical care for any tourists who fall ill with the Covid-19 illness during their stay, as well as accommodation and meals for their families and close contacts.</p><p>“What we offer and what we sell is not the sun and the sea, it’s hospitality, and this is an extension of our hospitality,“ Perdios said.</p><p>The government has designated a 100-bed Covid-19 hospital for tourists that Perdios said would be located in the Larnaca region, while 112 ICU units have been allocated for visitors.</p><p>Perdios said several four-star hotels would provide 500 quarantine rooms for close contacts of those who fall ill.</p><p></p><p><i><b>‘Right thing to do’</b></i></p><p></p><p>A raft of other health measures, including disinfection protocols and temperature checks at border controls, aim to protect travellers and locals alike.</p><p>“We’ve gone to big lengths to think ahead of things that could go wrong and try to devise plan Bs and Cs”, Perdios said.</p><p>The Republic of Cyprus, in the south of the island, has registered 960 novel coronavirus cases and 17 deaths.</p><p>Perdios expressed hope that British tourists could be welcomed “sometime after mid-July”, with Russia “slightly later, maybe by a couple of weeks”.</p><p>A recently announced deal with Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air to open a base in Cyprus from July was also an important step towards expanding and diversifying the island’s tourist markets, he said.</p><p>While no date has been set to allow international tourists to visit the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, only recognised by Ankara, the health care commitment would still apply to those visiting the north during their stay once the crossings are reopened.</p><p>“I am very confident that not only will we be able to continue providing our citizens with protection, but also caring for everybody who comes to the island on holiday”, he said.</p><p>“If we are coming out with a scheme like this, it’s because we can afford it, but most importantly, because we feel that it’s the right thing to do.” -<i>AFP</i></p>A man walks in an almost empty arrival hall, as Cyprus government bans flights from 28 countries from March 21st to curb the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Larnaca International Airport, Cyprus March 18, 2020. -ReutersDefiant Australians protest racial injustice despite warningshttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/defiant-australians-protest-racial-injustice-despite-warnings-NN2528429
b7c4b2b6-bce5-461c-b2fc-91b1825cde71Sat, 06 Jun 2020 11:32:37 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c3/400d225/none/11808/GAHY/s4-reutersmedia_1194769_20200606184556.jpg"><p><b>SYDNEY</b>: Tens of thousands of Australians defied government calls to stay at home Saturday by spilling onto the streets for Black Lives Matter protests in major towns and cities across the country.</p><p>Marchers in Sydney, Melbourne and elsewhere rejected arguments from law enforcement and conservative leaders that mass protests could fuel the spread of coronavirus.</p><p>A court on Friday declared the Sydney protest illegal on health grounds, although the ruling was overturned by an appeals court minutes before the march was due to start.</p><p>“The fact that they have tried to push us all back and stop the protest, it makes people want to do it even more,“ said Jumikah Donovan, one of thousands who turned up thinking the ban was still in place.</p><p>The Sydney march was largely peaceful, although one “All Lives Matter” counter-protester was taken away by police.</p><p>Demonstrators brandished signs that read “I can’t breathe”, a nod to the last words of African-American man George Floyd, whose death while being arrested has sparked civil rights protests around the world.</p><p>Another read: “Same story, different soil.”</p><p>The movement has resonated strongly with many in Australia a country also wrestling with the legacy of a racist past.</p><p>Organisers said they hoped to highlight the high rates of imprisonment among Aboriginal Australians and large number of deaths in custody of indigenous people more than 400 in the last three decades.</p><p>No prosecutions have been brought despite dozens of investigations, inquests and in some cases video evidence of abuse.</p><p>Many of the protesters wore face masks, brought hand sanitiser and tried to social distance as best they could.</p><p>“There are things in the world that need to be addressed,“ said Fay Goli. “If one person can stand, that’s great, but if a majority can stand together there will be a stronger voice for change.”</p><p>Australia has seen a sustained drop in the number of Covid-19 cases, but social distancing rules remain in force and mass gatherings are not permitted.</p><p>“Police are prepared for anybody that wants to just flout the law,“ New South Wales Police Minister David Elliott told media before the rallies.</p><p>Protesters in Melbourne were warned they could face fines for attending a rally if social distancing was not observed, although police appeared not to be enforcing those rules.</p><p>The day before the protests Prime Minister Scott Morrison had urged people to stay home.</p><p>“Let’s find a better way and another way to express these sentiments rather than putting your own health at risk,“ Morrison said.</p><p>He admitted there was more to be done to address indigenous inequality, but rejected parallels with the United States.</p><p>“Australia is not other places, so let’s deal with this as Australians and not appropriate what’s happening in other countries to our country at this time.” -<i>AFP</i></p>In S.Africa’s virus epicentre, Covid-19 patients get priorityhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/in-s-africa-s-virus-epicentre-covid-19-patients-get-priority-IN2528390
148879f5-98af-47bd-a62f-68c041e8c458Sat, 06 Jun 2020 10:30:00 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x246/0c10/400d225/none/11808/XFBC/s3-reutersmedia_1194759_20200606183138.jpg"><p><b>CAPE TOWN</b>: As coronavirus cases spike in South Africa’s Western Cape province, the epicentre of the country’s outbreak, doctors have voiced concern about other diseases being neglected while medical attention is focused on Covid-19.</p><p>The Western Cape province, a popular tourist destination home to the coastal city of Cape Town, accounts for 66 percent of South Africa’s 43,434 coronavirus cases and 77 percent of 908 deaths.</p><p>Provincial authorities predict infections will almost quadruple to 100,000 in coming weeks.</p><p>Many medical practitioners have been moved from specialised wards such as oncology and anaesthesiology to help treat Covid-19 patients.</p><p>But a large number of other patients could be left in the lurch as a result.</p><p>At Cape Town’s Groote Schuur hospital, around half the staff have been earmarked for redeployment as the pandemic rushes towards a peak expected between the end of June and the beginning of July.</p><p>Experts fear this could affect planned surgeries and other services.</p><p>“The intense focus on Covid has created a backlog of patients with non-Covid diseases who are not able to access care,“ a group of doctors from Groote Schuur wrote in the South African Medical Journal last month.</p><p>“Many cancer diagnoses and hence treatments have been delayed, as have joint replacements and cataract surgery,“ the doctors said, warning that patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma had “missed appointments”.</p><p>“Many are unable to access medications,“ they added.</p><p>Groote Schuur ENT specialist Johannes Fagan pointed out that doctors already had to “play God” before the pandemic due to limited health resources.</p><p>The virus has piled further pressure on the system.</p><p>“It’s a matter of weighing up who should get care because we just can’t treat everybody,“ Fagan said.</p><p>“But the debate isn’t really happening because everything is leaning towards Covid at the moment.”</p><p><i><b></b></i></p><p><i><b>‘Deluge of patients’</b></i></p><p></p><p>Several hospitals in Cape Town told<i> AFP</i> they had stopped elective imaging, procedures and surgery, while outpatient clinics had been scaled down.</p><p>Many patients have also avoided hospital visits for fear of contracting the virus.</p><p>University of Cape Town oncologist Jeanette Parkes said all routine check-ups had been cancelled.</p><p>“There are a lot of patients with cancer that... are not being diagnosed because they are not getting imaging and (access) to their primary health care clinics,“ Parkes told <i>AFP</i>.</p><p>She anticipated “a huge sort of deluge of patients at the end of the pandemic who are probably more advanced than they would have been if they’d been diagnosed or treated during the pandemic”.</p><p>Doctors feared they would lack capacity to clear the backlog of patients returning to hospital once the outbreak ended, after having spent months without routine check-ups and treatment.</p><p>“We will now have an exhausted healthcare workforce and those patients are still going to be neglected because there is not a recovery plan in place,“ Parkes said.</p><p>It is estimated that the virus will create a backlog of about 150,000 procedures in South Africa, according to the Cape Town-based professors Bruce Biccard and Lydia Cairncross in a recent article published in the country’s online Daily Maverickl.</p><p>Meanwhile, a growing number of hospital workers are contracting Covid-19 placing additional strain on thinly staffed facilities.</p><p>More than 1,700 health workers have been infected since coronavirus hit the Western Cape in March, 17 of whom have died.</p><p>The government has strengthened its response by setting up field hospitals and re-deploying military medical personnel from less-affected provinces.</p><p>On Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa paid his first visit to Cape Town since South Africa went under lockdown on March 27.</p><p>“The Western Cape is the epicentre of Covid-19 infections and this concerns us deeply,“ Ramaphosa said, adding that the military was “ready to bring in defence military personnel who will be able to come to the province immediately to lend a hand”.</p><p>“We need to employ more health workers,“ he added. -<i>AFP</i></p>Pix for representational purpose only.Open all hours, New Delhi crematorium struggles with virus deadhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/open-all-hours-new-delhi-crematorium-struggles-with-virus-dead-HA2525898
58b20597-7cbf-4b46-88b9-9d1eacccbf63Sat, 06 Jun 2020 09:30:36 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x260/0c17/400d225/none/11808/CFEG/s3-reutersmedia_1194611_20200606170546.jpg"><p><b>NEW DELHI</b>: Traditional funeral pyres have been drafted in to burn the bodies of coronavirus victims in the Indian capital as crematorium furnaces struggle to keep up with the mounting death toll.</p><p>Smoke from the open-air blazes stings the eyes of waiting mourners and workers at Nigambodh Ghat, New Delhi’s biggest and oldest crematorium.</p><p>The rising number of bodies arriving from hospitals has forced the facility, situated next to the city’s historic Red Fort, to extend its opening hours. Funerals start at 8.00am and go on late into the night.</p><p>India is one of the hardest-hit countries from the coronavirus with about 240,000 cases and more than 6,700 dead. According to official figures, about 650 have died in Delhi, but media and cemetery officials say there have been hundreds more victims in the city.</p><p>The committee that runs Nigambodh Ghat says the crematorium has handled more than 500 coronavirus funerals in two months.</p><p>Three other crematoria and at least two cemeteries also handle Delhi’s virus dead.</p><p>Authorities have ordered victims be incinerated in modern furnaces as a precaution against infection as anxiety grows over the spread of the disease.</p><p>But only three of six furnaces at Nigambodh Ghat are working, so for the past week, wood pyres, the traditional structures used in Hindu funeral rituals for thousands of years, have been allowed to help clear the backlog.</p><p><i><b></b></i></p><p><i><b>Furnace or tradition</b></i></p><p></p><p>Suman Kumar Gupta of the crematorium management committee said families arriving for a funeral had to queue to pass through a “sanitation tunnel” at the entrance and then wait hours for the ceremony, prompting anxiety about the risk of infection.</p><p>“They want it to be faster, but we have only the three furnaces working,“ said the official.</p><p>Pressure is being felt all around. Some ambulances are bringing four or five bodies at a time from hospitals where mortuaries are reportedly overloaded with virus victims.</p><p>An ambulance driver told AFP there had been times when he was forced to leave his vehicle with bodies inside parked overnight at Nigambodh Ghat, after the facility failed to cremate them and they could not be returned to the hospital.</p><p>It takes about two hours to incinerate a body in a furnace and even longer on the pyres, which are fed by a constant stream of cartloads of wood pushed by dozens of crematorium workers.</p><p>In front of the furnaces, the mourners stand behind a screen, their masked faces revealing only eyes brimming with tears.</p><p>Narendra Vashisht, 68, waited two hours before he could peer through the glass at his brother’s body being prepared for its final moments.</p><p>“It has not been easy,“ he said. “We had to keep asking them to hurry it up.”</p><p>Before the virus crisis, tradition-loving Indian families were wary of modern furnaces. Now they are scared of the illness and want a quick and efficient end.</p><p>“We used to get only four or five bodies a day for the furnace. We had to convince people to use it. Now things are different,“ Gupta said.</p><p>The traditional pyres are set up in the crematorium grounds. Workers in masks pour clarified butter over the body, which remains in a bag, and place marigold garlands on some victims before setting ablaze the wood. Three or four family members are allowed to watch. About four pyres work at any one time.</p><p>Gupta worries about the lack of protective equipment for the workers, though they themselves appear less nervous.</p><p>Sanjay Sharma, one of these labourers, lit a traditional beedi cigarette as he watched grieving relatives. He is certain the worst is yet to come for Delhi.</p><p>“But we will make sure the dead are treated with respect,“ he said. “It’s the least we can do for the shattered families.” -<i>AFP</i></p>Health workers cover the body of a man who died due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), as relatives pay their respects, at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, June 4, 2020. -ReutersBrazil court bans raids in Rio favelas during pandemichttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/brazil-court-bans-raids-in-rio-favelas-during-pandemic-LB2517728
4c3c0a12-a248-4044-8604-0ccd6c5681e1Sat, 06 Jun 2020 08:30:37 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x225/0c0/0d0/none/11808/FWVB/gavel-629230-20190911180952_1194556_20200606160608.jpg"><p><b>RIO DE JANEIRO</b>: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice banned police raids Friday in the slums of Rio de Janeiro during the coronavirus pandemic, amid growing criticism of recent cases of police violence.</p><p>Judge Edson Fachin ruled police raids on the city’s impoverished “favelas” could only be used in “absolutely exceptional” cases, and only with prior authorization from the state prosecutor’s office, for the duration of the health crisis.</p><p>“Recent incidents have made the state’s armed operations in Rio de Janeiro’s communities even more troubling,“ the court said in a statement.</p><p>“The protocols on the use of force (by police) were already precarious. The pandemic, which has caused people to spend most of their time at home, has made the usefulness of those protocols questionable and the risk even greater.”</p><p>Fachin specifically mentioned the case of a 14-year-old boy, Joao Pedro Mattos Pinto, who was shot dead in his home during a police raid on the Salgueiro favela complex on May 18.</p><p>Pinto’s family said officers entered the house shooting and throwing grenades, despite the fact that only children were inside.</p><p>“Nothing can justify a 14-year-old child being shot more than 70 times,“ Fachin said.</p><p>Despite the pandemic, Pinto’s death and other recent incidents of police violence have triggered protests in Rio’s slums, echoing the demonstrations against police brutality sweeping the United States.</p><p>Rio police have often been accused of using excessive force.</p><p>They killed more than 1,800 people statewide last year, up 18 percent from 2018.</p><p>Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose political base is in Rio, is a staunch defender of aggressive police tactics and fierce advocate for gun rights. -<i>AFP</i></p>Pix for representational purpose only.California says film, TV production can resume June 12https://www.thesundaily.my/world/california-says-film-tv-production-can-resume-june-12-CB2517477
c9efc127-bb6d-4916-8e7b-35d0d985c295Sat, 06 Jun 2020 07:52:53 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c21/400d225/none/11808/TGYY/s2-reutersmedia_1194538_20200606155257.jpg"><p><b>LOS ANGELES</b>: California will allow film, television and music production to resume from June 12 if conditions permit after months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, the governor’s office said Friday.</p><p>Film and television productions in the Golden State have been shuttered since mid-March.</p><p>The reopening will be subject to approval by local health officers, the California Public Health Office said.</p><p>“To reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission, productions, cast, crew and other industry workers should abide by safety protocols agreed by labor and management, which may be further enhanced by county public health officers,“ it said.</p><p>However it is not clear if major Hollywood studios will be able to resume operations from next week because Los Angeles county is one of the main coronavirus epicenters in California, recording about half the infections and deaths in the state.</p><p>To date, more than 125,000 cases and 4,500 deaths have been confirmed in California. -<i>AFP</i></p>Morning sun rise on the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 6, 2020. -ReutersBiden clinches Democratic nomination for 2020 race against Trumphttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/biden-clinches-democratic-nomination-for-2020-race-against-trump-AB2517266
d2b2aaf3-e448-46f2-9f00-e1296cb402aaSat, 06 Jun 2020 06:28:09 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x266/0c0/399d225/none/11808/NDLW/download-86_1194476_20200606142815.jpg"><p><b>WASHINGTON: </b>Joe Biden said Friday he had secured the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination and face Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election.</p><p>“Folks, tonight we secured the 1,991 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination,“ the former vice president said on Twitter.</p><p>“I’m going to spend every day fighting to earn your vote so that, together, we can win the battle for the soul of this nation.”</p><p>Biden passed the 1,991 threshold to secure his party’s nomination as counting continued from Tuesday’s round of Democratic primaries.</p><p>He had been the presumptive Democratic challenger since Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race in April and endorsed his onetime rival’s run at the White House.</p><p>Biden reached the threshold with the country wracked by protests over the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of police.</p><p>Floyd’s death has reignited long-felt anger over police killings of African-Americans and unleashed a nationwide wave of civil unrest unlike any seen in the US since Martin Luther King Jr’s 1968 assassination.</p><p>“This is a difficult time in America’s history. And Donald Trump’s angry, divisive politics is no answer,“ Biden wrote in a post on Medium.</p><p>“The country is crying out for leadership. Leadership that can unite us. Leadership that can bring us together.”</p><p></p><p><i><b>‘Equal justice’ </b></i></p><p></p><p>Biden’s response to the protests has been in marked contrast to Trump, who threatened to deploy the military against American citizens.</p><p>In his first major public speech since going into isolation in mid-March because of the virus outbreak, Biden called Floyd’s death a “wake-up call for our nation” and accused Trump of turning the US into a “battlefield riven by old resentments and fresh fears.”</p><p>The 77-year-old Biden, who served as deputy for eight years to America’s first black president, Barack Obama, has pledged to tackle “systemic racism” if elected to the White House.</p><p>“We need equal justice -- and equal opportunities -- for every American now. We need a president who cares about helping us heal -- now,“ he wrote.</p><p>Biden’s run for the Democratic nomination had looked destined for disaster following early losses to the fiery Sanders in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.</p><p>But he came roaring back in South Carolina’s primary in late February on the strength of overwhelming backing from African-American voters, a crucial base of Democratic support.</p><p>Biden will now be expected to name his running mate, after promising to pick a woman.</p><p>Senator Kamala Harris, a 55-year-old former attorney general of California, is considered one of the front-runners to be Biden’s vice presidential pick.</p><p>Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian ancestry, was considered a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out in December after failing to break out of the crowded field.</p><p>In an average of opinion polls, RealClearPolitics gives Biden a 7.1 point lead over Trump in the election. - <i>AFP</i></p><p></p>Black boy’s death sparks racism protest in Brazilhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/black-boy-s-death-sparks-racism-protest-in-brazil-GB2517181
4866dc8c-ef1a-4242-8a9f-0b24fbfea142Sat, 06 Jun 2020 06:04:10 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x267/0c21/400d225/none/11808/PLBI/brazil-accident-fall-boy-protest-racism-003618_1194436_20200606140413.jpg"><p><b>RECIFE: </b>Hundreds of Brazilians marched Friday over the death of a black boy whose mother, a maid, had entrusted him to her white employer, in an echo of the protests racking the United States.</p><p>Five-year-old Miguel da Silva died Tuesday when he fell from the ninth story of the highrise where his mother worked in the city of Recife.</p><p>She had left him in the care of the white woman she worked for while she took the family dog for a walk.</p><p>Security camera footage played on Brazilian TV shows the white employer interacting with the boy as he stands inside the service elevator, then pushing the button for the top floor and leaving him inside alone.</p><p>Media reports said after exiting the elevator the boy climbed through a window, up a balcony railing and fell to his death.</p><p>The case triggered a Brazilian take on the protests sweeping the United States over racism and police brutality.</p><p>“Vidas negras importam” - “Black lives matter” - said signs carried by protesters in Recife, the capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco.</p><p>“It’s important to be at this protest, because Miguel’s life represents the reality of lots of other black kids, the children of domestic workers. He could have been any one of us,“ said protester Nathalia Ferreira.</p><p>Wearing face masks against the coronavirus pandemic and T-shirts with the boy’s picture, the protesters marched from the court of justice to the building where he died.</p><p>“We are worried this crime will be taken lightly and left unpunished. It is important that justice be done,“ said Monica Oliveira of the Pernambuco Black Women’s Network.</p><p>As in the United States, race relations are fraught in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery.</p><p>Blacks make up 56 percent of Brazil’s population, but earn about half as much as whites on average, have lower life expectancy and according to activists face deeply ingrained discrimination. - <i>AFP</i></p>People demonstrate and demand justice for the death of five-year-old Miguel Otavio Santana da Silva, the son of a black maid who on June 2 fell from the ninth floor of a building while under the watch of his mother's white employer, in Recife, Pernambuco State, in northeastern Brazil, on June 5, 2020. The death of Miguel Otavio triggered a wave of anti-racism protests on Friday in Recife. - AFPZuckerberg promises Facebook policy reviewhttps://www.thesundaily.my/world/zuckerberg-promises-facebook-policy-review-AB2517121
6dab9836-22bd-4945-9f25-ff273dc6542cSat, 06 Jun 2020 05:18:41 GMTWorld<img src="https://www.thesundaily.my/binrepository/400x266/0c20/400d225/none/11808/HCME/download-85_1194427_20200606131846.jpg"><p><b>SAN FRANCISCO: </b>Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Friday promised to review the social network’s policies that led to its decision to not moderate controversial messages posted by US President Donald Trump.</p><p>The announcement, which came in the form of a letter to employees, appeared aimed at quelling anger inside the company that was so severe it prompted some to quit.</p><p>The outrage was sparked when Zuckerberg said Facebook would not remove or flag Trump’s recent posts that appeared to encourage violence against those protesting police racism.</p><p>Zuckerberg’s message Friday seemed to attempt to mollify that anger: “We’re going to review our policies allowing discussion and threats of state use of force to see if there are any amendments we should adopt,“ Zuckerberg wrote.</p><p>This, he said, includes “excessive use of police or state force. Given the sensitive history in the US, this deserves special consideration.”</p><p>Social media platforms have faced mounting calls to moderate the president’s comments, most recently because of the unrest gripping the United States in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed while apprehended by police.</p><p>“The decision I made last week has left many of you angry, disappointed and hurt,“ Zuckerberg said in the letter, which he posted on his Facebook page.</p><p>Timothy Aveni, a software engineer who resigned from the company, wrote on his Facebook page that the social media platform “will keep moving the goalposts every time Trump escalates, finding excuse after excuse not to act on increasingly dangerous rhetoric.”</p><p>Zuckerberg said he is exploring possible changes on how policy decisions are made at Facebook, along with more ways to advance racial justice and voter engagement.</p><p>“While we are looking at all of these areas, we may not come up with changes we want to make in all of them,“ Zuckerberg cautioned.</p><p>As per voting, Zuckerberg said: “I have confidence in the election integrity efforts we’ve implemented since 2016.”</p><p>“But there’s a good chance that there will be unprecedented fear and confusion around going to the polls in November, and some will likely try to capitalize on that confusion,“ he said.</p><p>The letter also addressed employees’ complaints that minorities have not been sufficiently represented internally.</p><p>“We’re going to review whether we need to change anything structurally to make sure the right groups and voices are at the table,“ Zuckerberg said. - <i>AFP</i></p>